Harvest starts with Italy confident of holding wine crown

Italy will retain its crown as the world's biggest wine producer this year, the country's main agricultural body predicted Friday as the first grapes of the 2016 vintage were harvested.

Coldiretti, the farmers' and food producers' organisation, said variable growing conditions across the country would result in overall volume rising five percent on the total of 47.5 million hectolitres in 2015.

Last year saw Italy overtake arch rival France in terms of total output by volume. French output is forecast to fall slightly this year due to a combination of late spring frosts, hailstorms and vines being attacked by rot and mildew.

Northern Italy also suffered from adverse weather conditions with production in the Lombardy region around Milan forecast to fall 10 percent while output from the southern region of Puglia, known outside Italy for its gluggable Primitivo reds, is set to increase 15 percent.

The Italian forecasts came as the first grapes of the 2017 harvest were picked in Franciacorta, the Lombardy area that produces some of the country's most prestigious sparkling wines.

The honour of picking the very first wine grapes of 2016 - chardonnay destined to be made into Franciacorta DOCG -- went to the Faccoli estate in Coccaglio near Brescia.

The start came a week later than last year, when scorching summer temperatures resulted in grapes ripening early across Italy.

This year has been much more of a mixed bag with Coldiretti warning that there was still everything to play for in some of the country's most celebrated red wine areas after a particularly mild winter was followed by a colder than normal spring.

Winemakers in Tuscany and Piedmont will be hoping for a dry, sunny second half of August to take advantage of the benefits from a relatively cool early summer in terms of minimum temperatures.

Coldiretti meanwhile noted that 2016 was on track to be another record year for Italian sparklers with exports of Prosecco and other types of bubbly continuing to rise strongly.

Even France, the home of Champagne, has tripled imports, the association noted.